5.2.18 Almost there

For better or for worse we are almost through this week of ASB elections. It has been a lot of work both the pretty public side and the at home work get stuff done side. As usual everyone was involved in some way. Aliza was the campaign manager. Anna ordered up 200+ donuts from grandma. She helped some, Reed helped, Addie, and Aliza helped they learned a bunch. Chocolate, coconut, or pumpkin were the offerings. Alia got shots and was not in the mood to be put down or jostled. She just wanted to be held still all alone on moms lap. Poor kid, but blessed kid to have it in small doses not full blown.

Learning from the pro. The best part of large projects is the repetition. Cooking the same thing over a hundred times helps cement how to do the process. Reed was the head mixer making each batch! 

Anna ran a classy campaign just like she is. I liked how her posters turned out. Aliza showed her how to use the copy and color method. For those not abundantly blessed with art talent it works very well.

Man the lessons come fast and furious in high school. It's a great time to find what you're good at and to try your hand at new things. It's a great time to grow. I had a tear in my eye today as I thanked God for the gift of family. Family past and family present. Traditions we continue and things we let go of. Shyness, friendship, confidence, donuts, speaking, serving, talking. So we wait to see what the future will hold. I'm pleased for the kids they are choosing to be. Life is good and nail biting today.

5.1.19 ASB Posters

To take a more full advantage of the high school experience Anna has elected to run for ASB Secretary. So last weekend was full of coloring and preparing. 

Millie has a staring role in Anna's campaign film.

 Reed got in the action too, there were a lot of words to color.
Alia also got to be part of the video, she is really starting to move know and loves to get what she wants.
A very kind and talented friend played the accompaniment to the video.

The generous school secretary also makes an appearance in the video.

Addie spent time trolling pinterest finding poster ideas and sending them to Anna and Aliza, she also began learning to make videos on ivideo. Anna took over and did a great job making a presentation that accurately portrays her. This week she has to catch from missing two days last week and is preparing to miss some days next week.School becomes kind of optional in the spring with FFA involvement.

Last week she was a host/assistant for the Owyhee Field Days. This experience hosts over 1000 5th graders over two days to learn about agriculture and the Owyhee watershed. She loves that project! It is such a great program for the youth to learn more about the obvious yet totally oblivious world around them. She and Aliza spent a few minutes capturing the beauty of the well watered desert and brought home some stunning pictures.

4.30.19 Sick Piggies

The little piggies were doing ok, or so I thought. Maybe out of sight out of mind might be more accurate. A few weeks ago one got taken in for surgery as it's rectum had prolapsed. We are not well acquainted with the vet she was able to fix the problem and we brought home a more expensive little pig. That pig seemed ok from then on. 

However, one morning Mark came in and announced a pig was dead. Thank goodness it was a different one, but discouraging nonetheless. By the time school was over another pig was dead. The 4-h leader came with her husband and observed for a while. They left with the recommendation of yogurt and raw eggs for the pigs to help calm their stomachs and give their GI tract time to heal. So I began making yogurt as it would take a lot. I love my instapot it's the easiest yogurt I've ever made. 

They also left instructions to administer pepto bismol and some liquid tylenol.

Of course the kids were all there it was kinda nice to be all together on a unified job. Not sure where all this water came from but Bruce was making the most of it.
We were also instructed to be careful with our shoes and gloves not wanting to spread the sickness. So we began or one time bleached our boots and shoes.

It's been almost a week since this event. The remaining 2 pigs of that litter are still alive they are still eating yogurt and eggs two times a day, one still looks good and the other is very guant but gets up movement is always a good sign.  My own baby continues to be very demanding crying when set down and too curious for safety. She choked to turning blue on a candy wrapper on Friday night so we are very leery of setting her down anywhere. Evn on the raer clean floor she sweeps under couches and in corners and finds something to choke on. Life is good always lots more to learn.

4.25.19 I love to see the temple

We decided to go to the temple after school this week. I have been away from my little kids a lot attending big kid functions. I felt like they need to be included not just dropped at home to zone out in movieland. We made the long drive over after running the carpool which added and extra hour in the car. 

I promised the younger ones we would find a park. I was unprepared for the amount of traffic. The lines wee so long probably a hundred cars or so. We had to keep driving because we couldn't turn around or turn across traffic. Finally with google maps help we found a park on our right. 

Man is life different in the cities. We take for granted all our reasons to be outside. We also don't just stop and play much. People lately have suggested scheduling time for fun... ha-ha. You mean more than sleeping? Who would have thought. I was relieved though as I watched people come to the park that we can play at the park everyday at home. I am thankful for the peace we live in way out here in the country.

Time is passing quickly for these two sweet little ones. They roll with the business and constant schedule changes. They Miss the big ones and share mom nicely. 

It was such a nice break to play and watch these little ones play while the big ones did what they needed. It was a long night after school but it was surprisingly peaceful.The older ones drove I talked and worked with the younger ones in the back. We listened to talks that taught lessons I'm thinking about. We were together in our magical big van. Magical because we don't fight as much, we can stew in each others goodness. I can talk one on one or to the group in a new more restrained environment and we end up at places we want to be. Many wins traveling together in the car. Life is beautiful and precious as the mom.

4.25.19 Easter Weekend

I love simple community service projects where we can help make a difference. I found a posting from our chamber of commerce asking for help putting out eggs for the community easter egg hunt. This sounded so perfect. We always donate eggs, and the kids love hunting them at home I thought this would be a perfect fit. 

When we got to the park it was between rain storms. I was surprised at how many eggs were waiting to be laid out. It had to have been 10000. The kids were all able to help. It was a fun unique activity to be the hiders not the finders. 

The Chamber of Commerce gave us free ice cream cone cards for our help. That was a fun promise!
We moved onto our local chapel to do some plant cleanup. The flowers are beautiful when they bloom but then they die and that looks ugly. I was explaining the need to do some cleanup and how the other congregations take care of their buildings when we drove by and saw some friends working outside their churches. Love that!

Addie was our crew boss showing by example how it should be done. All helped with the promise of ice cream cones when we were done.

We enjoyed soft serve cones while the rain poured down. It was a nice end to a good few hours of our day. Later that night I watched the older kids sing in an easter program. Harold used his wits and qrote his part on his hand. Later the next day he could not read all of it. The director asked why he didn't just use his phone, HArold replied I don't have a phone. The director was stunned into silence a kid with no phone is more rare than a golden egg.... Oh the poor boy.

Nonetheless life goes on and works out. I love my kids even when they scream at my feet... Happy easter, we can begin again and again! Thank God for that blessing. 

4.24.19 FFA Banquet

Oh the history rolling on and on. How many banquets have my parents sat through? Not sure but we had another one and htey were gracious enough to come. I had baked all day to support the dessert auction. The evening was pleasant and moved fast, that was very considerate of the hosts. Harold surprised me by earning the Chapter STar  farmer for the year. He is extremely involved he wants to try everything, he is usually fairly successful. He loves people and going on outings instead of being in class. 

Aliza with her best friend Mattie M.- in the middle. Her two other good friend Katy and Bradly are also shown.

New chapter farmers all 30 of them.

State Farmer recipients. The only picture I got of Anna. The banquet was bitter sweet. She loved her time as president. She learned and grew so much. She is ready for the next challenge life has to offer. 

 

My two redheads. It is so odd to have kids taller than us. How I love these two.

Aliza was awarded star greenhand from her friend Brock. She is also very involved and is very meticulous at keeping an amazingly detailed record book.

The two creed speakers for the year. Aliza and friend Kaylee.

Waiting and watching. Aliza was back and forth a lot. She looks good on stage.

Another year another banquet down. We keep up the tradition because the process and the opportunities develop life long skills and confidence. I love the blue and gold and am thankful my kids are being shaped for the better into future leaders of America too.

4.23.19 Ox in the Mire and Uncles

I have had the privilege of watching my brother in-laws grow up. Matt was about Livy's age and Jay was Afton's age when I joined the family. That's a lot of changing. They have been gone for quite a while now, so it is always fun when they come home. This time has been especially good as they have helped Greg enormously getting his perpetual ox out of the persistent mire. I made a date with Jay to come and cook for us. He often posts delicious creations on facebook. I figured we should take advantage of his close proximity to taste some of that in real time! We had a pleasant evening after a full day learning how to tantalize our taste buds. Livy remembers Jay from before he left. She asked several times if he could still hold her. This is the pictures of him finally hearing what she was asking. 

Man if we could hire Matt full time our life would be totally different. It was such an unexpected blessing to have his patient, completely competent hands working with and for Greg when he was really under the gun. What a relief!

The burger fixin's. Yes small crunchy hasbrowns, avacado, cheese, slighly cooked eggs, shrimp, bacon, custom blended burgers, yum! We were mostly skeptical but were convinced on first bite.

It took many hands and time to make such a yummy surprise but it was good to cook, laugh, and listen to Jay. Life is good we are thankful there are so many hours in the day we try to use almost all of them! Hence the obsession with food. Gotta keep fueled up to keep going. We keep hearing about some book on the power of sleeping, we are not anxious to read it. Ha! Time and season I guess.